If you go back through our archives -- which are all online -- you’ll see just how much the TimesCast has evolved in other ways.

When we started the TimesCast, we were almost painfully simple, and sometimes just painful. Most ‘casts consisted of a single presenter speaking into the camera for three to four minutes. We just hoped we had enough photos to flash onto the screen to make things look interesting.

Then, we worked out of a closet that wasn’t exactly in the basement, but was on the way there. Now, we have a fancy studio with a green screen. And now we parade several staffers through that studio each day to cut various segments.

We also have made it a point to bring in someone from the community each day to deliver the weather forecast, Monday through Thursday. Fridays are reserved for our in-house weather columnist, Kevin Myatt. Those guests have ranged from politicians to magicians to middle school students, many of whom have turned out to be our best promoters.

We’ve also started bringing in local musicians -- and spun off our MusicCast page, featuring videos by local acts. In fact, we now have musicians contacting us, to see if they can land a spot on the TimesCast. The answer is almost always yes, but we now book about a month ahead.

We’ve generated some other spin-offs, too. We now do a weekly Sports TimesCast (you can see the clip each Thursday in the regular TimesCast.) We’ve experimented with creating an online soap opera, this first one stars Miss Virginia 2006, Adrianna Sgarlata.

Over the course of the year, we've learned many things, sometimes the hard way. Early on, we learned the power supply was insufficient, and we frequently blacked out that part of the building. More recently, we've learned another lesson: When the metal band you've invited onto the show asks you "what size amps should we bring?," don't say "whatever you practice with."

Because Dark Ruin hauled in amps the size of a small house -- one of them adorned with a giant middle finger. Our studio may have good acoustics, but it's not perfectly soundproof. It wasn't long before the rumble from Dark Ruin's thumping bass was rattling desks on the next floor, and the company's human resources director was up in the newsroom to investigate.

That's led to a new rule: No amps bigger than we are.

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• Posted by dwayne yancey in Multimedia
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